Friday, October 3

rodeo+peckinpah+highlife+leejeans=junior bonner

Highway beer toss.

Until now 10engines has been a Steve-free zone but this movie is a real gem/sleeper. Before Peckinpaw directed McQueen and McGraw in The Getaway, came Junior Bonner. If you don't like westerns atall then this might be a tough one for some but Peckinpah had the chops for this. Anyway, the rodeo movie is it's own little subgenre of westerns (8 Seconds, Cowboy Up, FTW... guilty pleasure the last one).

Junior Bonner has quite a lot to recommend it, not including a certain actor called Steve McQueen. The story arc wraps up a little too nicely, but there are great subtexts for the inevitable march of progress (end of the rodeo life for Jnr., construction over farmland, age...) as well as some serious father issues (talking to you Wes Anderson). The barroom is like a second home and there is a huge set-piece dance/brawl that is worth the price of admission.

You can watch the first few minutes below. Some classic 70's era split screen in effect.